Newbie Questions, if you don't mind???

1. I like from time to time to have Jello to hold me over... Sugar free... this is FINE I'm sure... but would you count it? if so, as what?

2. "Menu 3" in the Purple Menu kit - doesn't have a "breakdown" in the back of that book like the other two... is this MENU 3, just an example of what we can create ourselves??? Hope this makes sense if you peek in your book...

3. I had a hard time choosing a cereal this morning (in my firm cafeteria) without sugar or salt listed in the first 5 ingredients.... if in doubt, is there ONE cereal you can just count on? Like, for instance, I finally grabbed Special K rice cereal... I had about 3/4 cup of it... is this ok??

4. I see we can choose up to 3 condiments a day.... so, if I like EXTRA dressing on my salad, is it a good idea to just use 3 tbspns of Fat Free dressing and count those 3 as my 3 condiments in a day... assuming I use nothing else?

5. IF you've done Weight Watchers, you'll know more what I am talking about... They have this EXTRA POINTS category... so, lets say during your whole week you wanted to have something "extra" that deviates off your daily plan... it would be OK.... Is there such a thing like this on LAWL???

6. Anyone have middle of the night snack ideas???

Thank you all so much!!! I appreciate all your help through this!! i hope to have the oppty to GIVE BACK one day... xoxoxo

1. 1/2c of sugar free jello is a condiment. (It's in your book so you know it's OK)

2. I have a book that's from 03/06 so I don't have menu 3. Maybe someone else can help you with that one.

3. Cereal is hard to find because most cereal is really just a sugar bomb. Even those marketing themselves as healthy. If you can't find one there, you can keep baggies w/ 3/4c portions in them at work or in your car, or even bag up a few a week and keep at home to grab on your way out the door.

3. A condiment is a condiment. I like creamy dressings, but not fat free ones, but I have found the Wishbone Salad Spritzers to be very good. The only non-creamy dressing I like actually. You can try them, or you can use all of the dressing as your condiments. But I wouldn't do that every day. I think eventually you will find yourself going over in condiments because you will still use ketchup, mustard, bbq sauce, jello, etc. so the 3 at once may not be a good idea.

5. No banked points. But that's what the carb cravers are for. You can have pizza once a week. Treat yourself with the carb cravers.

6. Middle of the night snack idea - DON"T! Seriously, if you are getting up to eat, you need to rearrange your food during the day. If you are up and want something, try a mug of hot flavored tea. I really like the vanilla caramel truffle by Lipton or the blueberry by Celestial Seasonings. Add a packet of splenda and you are good. The warm liquid fills your tummy.

Ok, I never saw "gelatin" in the condiments section!!! lol!! thank you!! I picked my book up so fast to ck that out...

I will definitely pre fill baggies of cereal.. i like that idea!

I tried the Wishbone spritzer... blech... not good for me... I will however try to use LESS and maybe just 2 condiments as dressings and keeping in mind I will have one more for the whole day... I just want to be sure I eat my vegs... and I like salad... not just steamed vegs by themselves... blech...

I think of all the carb cravers, the PIZZA idea appeals the best to me... so, I will look forward to that... i like that idea... I can't "play" with the carb cravers too much b.c. knowing me, I will go bonkers!!
Oh, i have a 4 month old baby boy (and a 5 yr old boy too) so when I get up for that night feeding, and i'm heating his bottle up a bit... I stand there in the kitchen LOOKING around!! lol...

Janeen - OOOOhhhh... the baby thing! That's different. Congrats by the way. My DS is 3 so I still remember those days. How about saving a 1/2 dairy for a string cheese?

On the salad spritzers - I actually like the red wine vinaigrette the best. I put the lettuce in a 3c Ziploc plastic bowl, spritz it, cover it and shake it up. Then the dressing gets all over the salad. Maybe you can apply that method to other dressings.

One other thing that I've done is to use 1T of light dressing (like lite ranch or blue cheese) and count it as my fat, and then add another tablespoon of the same flavor of Walden Farms No Calorie dressing to supplement and mix it together. Not all the time, but every once in awhile I want something creamy.

I like the pizza carb craver the best too. I've also done the quesadilla.

On the pizza note, I came up with a BBQ chicken pizza version. You can see it in the recipe thread. You can easily half the chicken and cheese servings down to 1/2P and 1/2D too.

I like string cheese too... I'm gonna get some of that then and do that... I like that alot... thanks! and your idea about covering the salad in the baggie is awesome too! Ya know what my sister in law does... she pours her dressing in the bottom of her tupperware (let's say) THEN, she puts her salad on TOP of it and takes it to work... THIS way, when she gets to work, she just has to shake it up and now the salad isn't mushy or nothing and she does't have to go through the "extra trouble" of bringing the dressing in something separately, or cleaning anything extra... etc... not that that has anything to do with dieting, LOL, but its just a smart idea... i think.

thanks for your tips, you're doing great!! you are so on the ball.. you should be a moderator on here!! you're always here when we need you it seems!

Liz and I usually eat "Fiber One" cereal. It has sugar listed as the 4th ingredient, so while it's not perfect, at least it's not in the top 3...

As for late night snacking.. The best thing we've found is not to have bad things to eat in the kitchen.. We have some of those little "snack pack" things that we give the kids for their lunch at school, but if I'm downstairs letting the dogs out, I'm not going to be bothered to open a new baggie every time.. It's much simpler to cheat when you have an open box of crackers or a bag of chips laying around.. So as a result, we just don't buy chips and crackers anymore.. The kids may have whinned a bit at first, but they dont' notice now..

__________________The hardest part of life is to live while you're alive. - Great Big Sea - "Here and Now"

It really is . . .I wish I could remember the name-Ah-google (hold on a sec!). It's the Heart to Heart Honey Toasted Oat kind. It does have evaporated cane juice as the third ingredient-so I don't know if it's techinically on plan-I think it was in the book-but not positive. 5g sugars total. 110 cal. It is so yummy with the almond breeze, a little splenda, and blueberries or bananas. I've bben making dinners that don't have a starch-and I'll often have cereal right when I get home from work-to keep me from getting too hungry for dinner.

Ok, I'm really going to just buy the puffed rice cereal - I've had it before and do ok with it... I don't feel tortured by it... otherwise, I believe I had the same one that J just mentioned the little hearts in it? yesterday morning actually... but HOW much of that would you eat? 3/4 cup??